Sunday June 7: The Infinite Supply Chain

To Practice

• Practice Lectio Divina with the “Scriptures of your life,” pondering two situations:  one that left you feeling a sense of success, and one that left you feeling a sense of failure. What did you learn? Practice the Welcoming Prayer if triggering emotions or sensations arise.
• You may wish to read Thomas Keating’s full article on “Powerlessness” here.
• Listen to this recording of Ken Canedo’s “For the Sake of Christ” (not quite five minutes).  Sink into the beauty of the music, the harmonies and the profound meaning of its words, taken from Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. If you chose to do the above Lectio-of-life practice, allow this song to weave through those reflections. What do you experience?
• The Word of the Week is a free, donation-based offering for the global community. If you have not yet donated to support this program and would like to, please do so here. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated.

If you wish, you may re-read the email reflection here: https://mailchi.mp/coutreach/2024-word-of-the-week-july7

After reading Father Keating’s complete writings on “Powerlessness”, I am drawn to two passages. “Finally, powerlessness is the greatest power there is because it enables one to simply be more an more a channel of God’s power and love, because the project is not our aggrandizement or perfection.” …and… “With time you become content with your weakness and happy to be utterly dependent on God.”

The only way I can become a channel of God’s hope to the world is to become as powerless as a water conduit – just open, no role except to stay open, allowing God’s hope to flow through me to the world. Am I always content with my weakness? No, yet progress is faithfully made, twenty minutes, twice a day. <3 linda

Linda, your comments make me think of the Tao Te Ching, the ancient Chinese spiritual classic.  Check out Chapter 8…I recommend the translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English.  You can Google it.

Marlene OSB

A couple of weeks ago, I identified “living on the edge of inside, today “living from the edge of tomorrow”. Initially I wanted to put aside the proposed image. At second glance I allowed myself to be drawn into, way into …there I found myself, this almost invisible this faint/rose/blue me.( 2”from bottom/2” from top/2″ from the left edge.) Here I am on the edge of inside/tomorrow. Here Musica/ Divina bathes my inmost being. For the busy-ness of the image isn’t mine to pay attention to. Perhaps, all those  laundry lists that don’t belong to me I can consent to this deep trust of  the /my to my Indwelling Spirit. So it is from this edge of inside/tomorrow I consent to engage in this next year long discernment that is fraught obstacles, most of the image. Blessings to all my co-centerers!

When I acknowledge a weakness , especially one that I often hide, I discover solidarity where I hadn’t noticed it before.

The image this week won’t let me go. Initially I tried to avoid it. Then I wrote of my first glance on Sunday. Since then I pick it up, put it down…. Then today Kosho’s title: “The Chain of Being” opened further, the image speaks  of God’s gathering all represented by those lines and colors; God’s gathering not mine to gather. Seeing the larger picture has been a blessing and a curse for me. Centering Prayer and these days a lot of Welcome prayer, especially during my brief nightly wakes-ups, I catch glimpses of  a “so-gathered-ness within myself”. As expressed by Mechtilde of Magdeburg: “God is kissing my inmost soul! continually. This is God’s way with everyone! So I, that one little dab of pink, hold those on my path with loving kindness.

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